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ConCarolinas and the Sneak Peek
June 3, 2009
ConCarolinas was fantastic as always! Started off with a signing at Barnes & Noble at Carolina Place Mall with David B. Coe, Misty Massey and Faith Hunter. We had a blast! David, Misty, Faith and I also shared hallway tables at the con, which was a great place for us to sign books, meet with readers and enjoy watching people go by.
Of course a highlight for me was being on several panels with Katherine Kurtz, and also getting to talk with Mark Rainey, who has written for new incarnations of Dark Shadows.
The hallway was a busy place. Our “neighbors” included CJ Henderson, Elaine Corvidae, Glenda Finkelstein, Crymsyn Hart, Bob Aldrich, JF Lewis, Kimberly Alexis, James Maxey, Davey Beauchamp, Sabrina Luna, Dahlia Rose, Tony Ruggiero, Mark Rainey, Ed Schubert, Tally Johnson and AJ Hartley.
More friends in the dealer room included Debra Kileen, Michael Sullivan, Stephen Zimmer, Anthony Karnowski,
And friends around the con—Stephen Euin Cobb, Nathan Butler, Mike Pederson, Stuart Jaffe, Podcasting’s Rich Sigfrit, Torch, Tina McSwain and Tonya Denny. Apologies if I’ve left anyone out!
It was an extremely BUSY con, since I was on about 14 panels—but I asked to be busy, so I was happy. Of course that meant I didn’t get much time for listening to filk, watching the Star Trek Phase II screening or checking out other panels.
We started off with a fun panel on Fan Media—fan fiction, podcasting, video mashups and fan-produced films. My fellow panelists were Nathan P. Butler and Podcasting’s Rich Sigfrit, so it was a spirited discussion with lots of audience participation. I was on a YA panel later that night, where we talked about changing audience tastes in fantasy and sci fi and how readers move into other aspects of the genres as they move from YA into adult fiction.
On Saturday, we started off with a writing panel on what to do “After the Writing is Done.” So we talked to a roomful of new authors or soon-to-be published writers on all the hard work that happens after you’re “done” with the book. Another panel on the paranormal touched on how US culture is becoming more accepting of the paranormal, both in fiction and as part of the world around us. Then on to a program on promoting podcasts (since I also do the Ghost In The Machine Fantasy podcast—www.GhostInTheMachinePodcast.com). Had some heavy hitters on the panel, with Stephen Euin Cobb (The Future and You), Stuart Jaffe (Eclectic Review), Podcasting’s Rich Sigfrit (Mr. Adventure), and Nathan P. Butler (numerous fan-based podcasts). Had to sneak out for lunch—it was a four-hour straight line-up and I didn’t want to pass out on the panel!
Had a second paranormal panel after lunch, this time on whether the influx of curiosity seekers due to the new paranormal investigation TV shows helps or hurts the established ghost-hunting community. Saturday evening, I had a reading which was a lot of fun. I read from both “The Summoner” and “Dark Haven” and got to talk with readers. Later that night we had a rollicking panel on whether movies are scarier with buckets of gore or creepy things in the shadows. I was the on a panel with Mark Rainey, Torch of Single Cell Productions and the Adrenalin Group (who make horror movies). I think we did agree that the monster you imagine is always scarier than the monster the make-up artist creates, and that there’s a difference between a horror movie based on suspense and a splatter-fest.
By Sunday, everyone was running on caffeine. We had a really fun two-hour panel on how to create gods for a fictional or role playing universe. It was a huge panel, with James Maxey, Katherine Kurtz, David B. Coe, Faith Hunter, Misty Massey and Steve Cross. Then on for another discussion of sidekicks in fiction, movies and comics. My final panel of the con was a “Skeptics vs. Believers” which managed to have a lively dialogue, as well as unexpected drama and the chance for an unlikely hero to save a life.
You can catch the video here: Day 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=356ANiRze3I
And Day 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_HOXHtjkMg
News of the Hawthorn Moon:
I’ve got 12 blogs and web sites partnering with me this year to roll out a first look sneak peek of Dark Lady’s Chosen on June 21. Watch the ChroniclesOfTheNecromancer.com site for updates and links to partner sites.
In my last note, I told you about the Science Fiction Fantasy Ethics group I joined at the invitation of Andy Remic. Here are two posts on SF Signal http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2009/05/the-science-fiction-and-fantasy-ethics-group/
And http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2009/06/mind-meld-why-is-genre-fiction-is-bleak-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/. You can check out the group itself at http://sffethics.wordpress.com/
Val Griswold-Ford has asked me to do a medium-short story for an upcoming anthology on magic and pirates. I’m excited about the project, but a little nervous about the word count. Every time I try to write something short, it ends up long. So we’ll see if I can hit 8,000 words and an ending at the same time. Then the Fantasycon people offered the opportunity to put an article in the con book—I’m under the gun!
Turns out David B. Coe and I are both involved with another anthology—he’s writing the introduction and I’m writing a cover blurb for the upcoming Blood & Devotion, which includes a short story by James Maxey.
No more conventions now until Dragon*Con, but watch for the Hawthorn Moon event June 21 online and a pre-Dragon*Con contest on Twitter at GailZMartin. And my goal is to Twitter the first chapter of Dark Lady’s Chosen, so bear with me as I figure out the tech!
And now, for a few weeks, it’s my turn to relax and read other people’s books before I start on the next two books in my own series!
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